Przybylo: Tackling recruiting questions

OU recruiting mailbag returns for another week to talk more OU targets.

SoonersIllustrated.com readers have questions about Oklahoma recruiting. Here are some answers to some of the more pressing questions.

No recruiting updates from last weekend?

Sort of tried to paint the picture last weekend that there weren’t a lot of top recruits at the game for the Sooners. OU wasn’t the place to be on opening weekend.

All of that is going to change, obviously, with Tennessee weekend next week, but last week just wasn’t a typical OU recruiting weekend.

The biggest name on campus was Jenks (Okla.) High defensive tackle commit Marquise Overton. That was huge since Overton hadn’t been to campus in a long time despite the close proximity to Norman.

Burleson (Texas) High defensive end Kenneth Mann planned on visiting, but he confirmed Monday he was unable to make the trip. And no real top targets were in attendance.

Early season games like this against non-marquee opponents tend to not bring the big guns. Nothing to be worried about with home games against the Vols, Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State still on the schedule.

Ha ha, love the phrasing. Make no mistake about it that Ohio State is the overwhelming favorite to land Gibson.

But as long as he’s not committed, you don’t throw in the towel if someone of his caliber wants to come back to campus for an official visit.

Gibson was supposed to be in Columbus this weekend for his visit to the Buckeyes, but his high school game got moved to Saturday so he can’t make it.

As of now, no reason to think Gibson can’t make it to OU, but the Sooners are going to have to pull off a miracle to change things with his recruitment.

The biggest thing OU has going in its favor regarding the high four-star prospect is position. A lot of schools have put the athlete label on Gibson. Not OU. It’s clear the Sooners see him as the quarterback he wants to be.

Other schools have been making sure they get their quarterback for the class. Josh Heupel, in a nearly unprecedented move, hasn’t done anything regarding a 2015 quarterback in a long time. The 2016 class is a lot different with three offers already out.

But Gibson is the guy Heupel wants, and it’s just a huge uphill climb.

What OKPreps prospect deserves to be the next OU offer?

OU currently sees Spiro’s McKinley Whitfield as a linebacker, but it’s hard to see why Whitfield simply couldn’t be a safety in OU’s system.

Whitfield is a legit 6-foot-3 and around 200 pounds. He didn’t look comfortable as a linebacker at OU’s camp, but that’s to be expected when you’ve never played the spot before.

He has great feet and instincts at safety, and he’s there if OU wants him. Although with well over double digit offers, OU, Oklahoma State and Arkansas have all been hesitant to offer Whitfield.

Whitfield is using it all as motivation here going forward, and a huge senior season could put him back on OU’s radar. An OU safety class of Kahlil Haughton, Will Sunderland and Whitfield would have fans smiling, for sure.